IPL 2021: "Rishabh Pant currently looks a better captain than Sanju Samson" - former India pacer Ashish Nehra

Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson at the toss on Thursday.

Ashish Nehra feels Rishabh Pant is a better captain than Sanju Samson after their respective captaincy debuts in the IPL 2021.

Rishabh Pant's captaincy voyage started with a flier as he marshaled Delhi Capitals to a comfortable win against 3-time champions Chennai Super Kings. Meanwhile, Sanju Samson led from the front against Punjab Kings with a spectacular hundred. But he fell inches short of victory in the last ball thriller.

Speaking to Cricbuzz, Ashish Nehra admitted that it's still too early to judge the young wicketkeeper-batsmen for their captaincy credentials. However, he chose Rishabh Pant to be the better leader on account of his on-field attitude during the win against CSK.

"You need at least 2-3 matches to judge how a captain is performing on the field. I am not looking just at the result. I will like to look at his outlook on the field, his bowling changes, how he reacts when his bowlers are getting hit, his calls on the batting order, and the coach. And all this takes time. But whatever I have seen till now, there hasn't been anything extraordinary. But, yes, Rishabh Pant has looked a bit better than Sanju Samson. His attitude during Delhi's match, while it was while batting or fielding, and how he won it comfortably, made him look better than Sanju Samson," said Ashish Nehra.

Both Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson have little leadership experience to show before this tournament. Pant led Delhi to the Ranji Trophy final in 2017, becoming the youngest ever to do so, but hasn't captained any other team since.

Meanwhile, Samson recently captained Kerala's state team in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, marginally missing out on the knockouts.

Rishabh Pant out for 51 against Sanju Samson's Rajasthan Royals

Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson's team are currently playing their 2nd game of the tournament in Mumbai. Sanju Samson won the toss and elected to bowl first. Rishabh Pant top-scored for the Capitals with a quickfire 51 off 32 runs before getting run-out.

Sanju Samson and Co. need 148 runs to win at 7.4 runs per over.